Manufactured article of furniture



Sept. 17, 1946. c. L. STEVENS 2,407,940

MANUFACTURED ARTICLE OF FURNITURE Filed April 19, 1944 6712117222 L. Jim/em Patented Sept. 17, 1946 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE,

MANUFACTURED ARTICLE OF FURNITURE Clinton L. Stevens, Jamestown, N. Y.

Application April 19, 1944, Serial No. 531,728

7 Claims.

This invention relates to an improvement in manufactured articles of furniture, and more particularly to individual parts thereof.

More specifically the invention pertains to manufactured parts that comprise and are assembled into articles of furniture, and for a fuller understanding of its purpose, the invention is embodied in a supporting rail, such, for example, as the side rail of a bedstead.

For some time in the past it has been common practice to manufacture comparatively thin sheets from cellulose fiber to provide rough or finished covering for walls and the like. These sheets are commercially available in varying thicknesses; the thicker sheets being more porous and usually serving as an insulating board, and the thinner sheets, being more highly compressed and dense, serving as a finishing board. So far as is known, no effort has been made to provide a bond for the cellulose fibers of a wall board to give it strength beyond that required in the erection of walls or partitions. In other words, wall board manufactured from cellulose fibers has been entirely in sheet form and without structural design by which to give such strength as to render it capable of serving to support a weight other than its own. It is a purpos of the present invention to illustrate and describe one of several uses to which pressed, properly bonded, cellulose fibers may be put when designed to give structural strength that heretofore was provided through the use of additional structural members formed from wood or metal.

In the present illustrated form, the invention is directed to a side rail of a bedstead. This rail consists of cellulose fibers held together in compressed relationship with a binder that is of such nature as to give added strength to the fibers, such a binder being available in several of the commercial synthetic resins. The advantages of a structural member of this nature are many; namely, the utilization of a material or substance that is largely waste, and with a suitable bonding agent, molding this material into the form of parts of an article of furniture. Thus, although the parts of the article are molded, they, nevertheless, being formed from wood fibers, will have the general appearance of wood, as well as its warmth, as distinguishedfrom metal. Additionally, by molding such parts, the manufacturer is limited in design or pattern only to the extent of the design of the mold,,and even this design may be altered by further work, following removal from the mold. Thus, for example, a rail may be produced in a mold of given contour and may Fig. 1 is a fragmentary perspective view of one end of a bed rail embodying the invention, parts being broken away to disclose the method of anchoring a bed hook thereto;

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view taken substantially on the line 22 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a further vertical sectional View similar to Fig. 2, showing the application of a veneer or other finishing material to the side and top surfaces of a rail;

Fig. 4 is a vertical sectional view taken substantially on the line 4-4 of Fig. 1 and shows one form of reinforcement that may be embedded in the rail ribs to give added strength;

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary side elevational. view of the rail shown in Fig. 1, parts being broken away to disclose a form of reinforcement applicable to the web portion of the rail; and

Fig. 6 is a vertical sectional view taken substantially on the line 6-6 of Fig. 5 and shows a further reinforcement for the rib, together with the location of the web reinforcement.

Referring more particularly to the drawing, the reference numeral [0 is employed to generally designate the side rail of a bed in which is embodied one form of the invention. This rail is formed from suitably bonded cellulose fibers, being made into rail form in a mold under application of heat and pressure. The rail comprises a vertical web portion l l which is located towards the outer or exposed side, and this web portion connects, and is, of course, integral with top-and bottom ledges l2 and i3. As illustrated in Fig. 2 of the drawing, the rail has the appearance of a channel, and it is proposed, in order to give necessary structural support to the top and bottom ledges l2 and I3, that the ends M be the full rail depth. Intermediate the ends M, a suitable number of ribs I6 are provided. These ribs are, of course, integral not only with the web portion 1 l, but with the top and bottom ledges l2 and i3 as well, and they serve, when provided in suitable number, to give such supportto the top ledge 3 I 2 that it may be readily used to support a spring. Additionally, the ribs 16 give such added strength to the lower ledge 13 that it may be utilized as a support for the ends of cross-slats which, in oer-- clined slots 2| by which to secure the rail end a plurality of ribs intermediate the end portions,

to the head or foot-board of a bedstead. The particular type of hook l9 formsno part of the invention.

It is contemplated that certain types of articles of furniture are subjected to greater structural strain than are other articles, and in the presentillustration it would be true that the rails of singlebeds would normally be required to stand upunder a lesser weight than would the rails of a three-quarter or double bed. Under such circumstances, it is contemplated to provide a structural reinforc mentinthe rail atsuch points, or throughout its length, as may be found necessary to give added strength. In Fig. 4 of the drawing a metal rod or' wire 22 is shown. 7 This Wire .is intended to give reinforcement to the rib l5 and is of such proportions and shape asto act as a tie between the ledges l2 and I3 andthe rib-i6. Additionally, it is contemplated to provide reinforcement for the webll, and one form of such reinforcement is shown in Fig. 5 of the drawing, wherein permanently secured, verticaland horizontal wire rods ,23 and.24 .are utilized. The number of such rods .may. be increased over that shown, and it is contemplated, in lieu .of the use of such rods, to utilize expanded sheet metal. With use of rods as a reinforcement it is possible to continue them, as illustrated in Fig. 6 of the drawing, at the webs to provide horizontal and vertical parts 26 and 21. In this instance, the parts 26. and 21 take the place of the rods 22,

illustrated in Fig. 4; The metal reinforcement. i in either the rib 16 or web H, or both, is such as,

to add only immaterially to theweight of the rail, and since it iscompletely embedded, pre. sents no unsightly appearance. a

As is suggested in Figs. 3 and 4 of the drawing, the rail, ,along its web II and topledge .I2,'may be covered with a veneer that will'match the material from which a head andfoot-board are constructed. Theapplication of the veneer is a simple matter and its permanency is assured, since it is applied to like material.

Although applicant has shown and described only one part of a given article of furniture that may be constructed in accordance with the invention, and in such part has shownonly one form of reinforcement, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art thatthe invention is applicable to the manufacture of parts of other articlesof furniture in the manner taught herein and such application or modification thereof is therefore contemplated insofar as it is within the spirit andscope of the invention as setout in the an Letters Patent is:

1. In anarticle of furniture, a support member,

comprising a web portion, likeled ges terminat ing opposite edges of said portion, full depth end portions on said member, a plate partially embedded in each of said end portions and having hook elements extending therebeyond, intermediate ribs connecting the ledges of said member, said ribs, ledges and'web portion being integral and said ribs serving to rigidify said ledges.

2. In an article of furniture, a channel-like support member comprising a web portion, integral top and bottom ledges terminating opposite edges of said portion, end portions substantially the full depth and height of said member, hook plates "having their ends embedded in said end portions,

each of said ribs being integral with said web and the top and bottom ledges and terminating substantially flush with the ledges.

3. In an article of furniture, a support member having solid ends, hook plates having their ends permanently joined to said solid ends, said member,v intermediate itsflends, being channel- I like in cross section, the sides of the channelconstituting .top and bottom ledges, a plurality of spaced ribs formed integral with said ledges and the connecting web of the channel, each of said ribs','in cross'section, being wedge-shaped with the-wider part at the web of the channel and the narrow. edge terminating substantially flush with the free edges of the'top and bottom ledges.

4. A support member comprisinga web portion, correspondingright angleflanges terminating opposite edges of said web portion and cooperating therewith to form a channel, 'solid ends on said channel, hook plates having their ends permanentlyjoined-tothe solid ends,; a plurality of spaced apart ribsformed integral with the web and flanges, each of said ribs having an edge terminating within the limits of said channel, and means forming a part of each of said ribs serving tov reinforce the integral connection with said flanges.

5.-In an article of furniture, a channel-like support member comprising a web portion, integral topand bottom ledges terminating opDQsite edges of said portion, atleast one end of said member being solid, an attachment element extending in the ,direction of the length of said member, said element having a'portion embedded in said solid end, and a further portion extending therebeyond and, providing fastening means for said member to another element of the article of furniture.

6. In an article of furniture, a channel-like support member comprising a web portion, integral top and bottom flanges-terminating opposite edges of said web portion, a hook plate extending in the direction'of the length of said member an end of said channel-like member being solid and] of a thickness and length to receive and embed an end portion of said hook plate, and means forming a part of the embedded portion adapted to anchor said hook plate to said solid end.

7..In an article of furniture, a channel-like gral with said web and the top and bottom ledges and terminating substantially flush with at least one. of the ledges. V

. CLINTQN L. STEVENS. 

